Nicola Benedetti’s in-flight pop outburst

CLASSICAL violinist Nicola Benedetti has hit out at a budget airline for “subjecting” her to “loud pop music” during a recent flight.

Nicola Benedetti took to Twitter to complain about inflight pop. Picture: Robert Perry

The Scottish musician, from West Kilbride, complained to Spanish Vueling airlines that being made to listen to the popular tunes was like “being forced to eat something you don’t want”.

Benedetti, who shot to fame after winning the BBC’s Young Musician of the Year award in 2004 and counts the Queen among her fans, took to Twitter yesterday to complain about her experience to her followers.

The 27-year-old said: “Why is it necessary to subject us all to loud pop music on the plane @vueling? It’s like being forced to eat something you don’t want.”

Some of the violinists followers agreed with her complaint, Bill Gorman from Glasgow, writing: “Unwanted, banal pop. Ugh. You feel large parts of your brain shutting down.”

Another fan, BostonWriter, said: “Sadly, not the only airline doing this. Gets old quickly, doesn’t it?”

One follower, SsnowyC, added: “Why don’t you give them a tune. Sure they would prefer it.”

A member of staff at the low-cost airline, based in Barcelona, was quick to apologise to the music star, writing back within an hour of her online complaint: “Sorry if you don’t feel comfortable with it. It is meant to be enjoyed”

Benedetti, who is currently touring in Europe, thanked the airline for responding, tweeting back: “Thank you for writing! Quiet is a rare and precious thing these days. I think many of us would enjoy that more.”

The classically-trained musician, who studied under Yehudi Menuhin, has previously spoken of her preference for classical music over pop. In a newspaper interview last year, Benedetti even said that exposure to classical music during school should be an essential part of a child’s education. “The kind of skill and soul and ability to create a symphony like Beethoven did – it’s a phenomenon. It’s something that children should be exposed to,” she said.

“Listening to masterpiece compositions through history, by Bach or Beethoven or even just playing ten minutes of a symphony after explaining who wrote it and what the world was like at the time. That would count as music education to me.”